Chris Moneymaker

Moneymaker. That's his real name from birth, and what a fitting name it is. This American poker player has had a great influence on the poker boom of the resent years. Chris Moneymaker made his mark (and a whole lot of money) when he won the 2003 WSOP main event. Moneymaker, an anonymous accountant from Tennessee, turned a $40 investment into $2,500,000, a WSOP bracelet, and the coveted title of World Champion. His victory marks the beginning of the online poker gold rush, sometimes referred to as ‘the Moneymaker effect'.

This modern day Cinderella story starts three years prior to the WSOP, when Moneymaker opened an online poker account in the PokerStars online card room. His username was (and still is) ‘money800'. He qualified for the No Limit Texas Hold'em main event through a satellite tournament on the site, after a buy-in of $39. Just for comparison, the event itself has a direct buy-in of $10,000. The WSOP main event was the first live poker tournament Chris Moneymaker ever played, and what a tournament it turned out to be for him.

After winning his way into the event, Moneymaker realized he doesn't have the money to pay for the trip to Vegas. His dad, Mike, and a friend named David Gamble (also a real name) put together some money in exchange for a small portion of the winnings. That also turned out to be a smart investment.

From the very early stages of the event, Moneymaker realized he had to play his game and not be intimidated by the situation. The first-day sitting arrangements had him caught between a rock and a hard place, with Johnny Chan sitting on his right and Phil Ivey to his left. He recalls being outplayed all day long. That night he decided he had to start playing and stop being overwhelmed by the occasion. He never looked back again.

Some say luck played a big part in Moneymakers historical win, but luck has played a big part in any Hold'em hand ever dealt. Moneymaker showed great skill and talent, though some of his calls remain questionable. One shady call he made in the early stages was to go all-in with pocket eights against Humberto Brenes's pocket aces. Moneymaker had no way of knowing what he was up against, but a good poker player is almost expected to sniff out his opponent's cards. Lucky for Moneymaker, he caught an eight on the river, and his set of eights beat Brenes's aces.

One of the many great plays Chris Moneymaker made on the road to victory was a famous hand against Russ "Dutch" Boyd. Chris was holding pocket threes, while Dutch had a KQ. The flop was 925, and that's when Moneymaker made his move and bet $100,000. After thinking for a while, Dutch called all-in, and Moneymaker went in on the bet. Before seeing each other's cards, but after the bet had been made, Moneymaker asked for low cards on the turn and river, showing that he had correctly placed Dutch on his hand of high cards with no pair. Moneymaker's made hand of threes took down the pot, and gave him the chips he needed to win the tournament.

Another great hand was in the final stages of the tournament, against Sam Farha. Moneymaker bluffed an ‘all-in' on the river with nothing but a king high. Farha bit the bait and folded a pair of nines. In the final hand that won the WSOP for Moneymaker, he was holding 54 offsuit against Farha's JT offsuit. The flop came out J5485, giving Moneymaker a full house and the World Champion title.

After the historic victory, Moneymaker quit his job and started traveling, looking to make a living off live poker tournaments. In March 2005 he published his autobiography, Moneymaker: How an Amateur Poker Player Turned $40 into $2.5 Million at the World Series of Poker.

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